1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile telecommunications system and, in particular, to location dependent adaptive air-interface behavior associated with a mobile station within such a system.
2. Description of Related Art
An "air-interface" or "radio-interface" provides the connection between a mobile station traveling within a particular cell area and a base transceiver station (BTS) providing radio coverage for that particular service area. Within both analog and digital communications systems, several natural and man-made terrestrial conditions influence the performance and the quality associated with a particular air-interface effectuated for a mobile station traveling within a particular geographic area. Such terrestrial conditions include surface irregularities, line-of-sight obstacles, buildings, trees, and mountainous areas.
A mobile service provider initially performs a cell planning or designing to define an appropriate cell layout or plan to cover a particular geographic area and to situate a plurality of base transceiver stations or antennas at particular locations to achieve maximum communication coverage and/or quality. As a result, each cell site or cell layout is planned with the consideration and evaluation of associated terrestrial conditions and obstacles.
While establishing an air-interface with a serving BTS or base station controller (BSC), the mobile station initially utilizes network provided parameters or settings. Such settings are provided by the serving mobile telecommunications network before the mobile station effectuates an air-interface. As an air-interface is maintained between a serving BTS and a particular mobile station, in order to provide an acceptable communication quality, the mobile station and/or the serving BTS continuously reports and measures the relevant data or parameters associated with the resulting air-interface to properly adjust and to switch the communications channel effectuated therebetween. Such adjustments include, for example, frequency hopping, and power output adjustments.
However, there are certain parameters or settings utilized by the mobile station that are not dynamically controllable by the serving mobile telecommunications network. For example, a mobile station is typically associated with a factory defined data sensitivity level. The data sensitivity level is utilized by the mobile station to recognize and to select a proper communication channel to effectuate an air-interface. As a result, in case a mobile station is set with a too high sensitivity level, the mobile station ignores or is unable to locate a channel while traveling within a low powered cell area (e.g., rural area, indoor area). However, if the mobile station is set with a too low sensitivity level, in case the mobile station is traveling within a urban area, too many inappropriate channels are detected by the mobile station.
As a result, since mobile station associated air-interface settings or parameters are fixed, a mobile station traveling from one service area to another service area cannot change its air-interface settings and parameters to advantageously adapt to changing terrestrial conditions.
Accordingly, there is a need for a mechanism to enable a mobile station to automatically and dynamically change its air-interface settings or parameters to conform to a service area associated thereto.